Bucky Badger owns this town, part 2: a sea of red.

As I've said before, Bucky Badger owns this town. He's everywhere: in stores, on cars, and gracing the packaging of locally made foods.

When my mom and our friend Pat came to visit, they had the privilege of meeting cardboard Bucky at Hilldale Shopping Center:

Wisconsinites love their Bucky, and the Hilldale skeleton greeter shares in the spirit:

Even this ghoulish bag of bones is supporting Bucky with a UW hat.

I live in the land of Bucky and I have gotten used to his constant presence (and hey, red is my favorite color). With that said, after 2.5 years of Madison residency, I should have known better than to drive to the West Side of Madison on the day of UW's homecoming.

I just wanted to go to Trader Joe's. My intentions were honorable.

But instead of a breezy 10-minute ride on a Saturday, I wound up in a 40-minute ride through a sea of red-clad Badger fans.

Badger fans crossing the street and heading for the stadium.

Badger fans tailgating in the parking lot of my doctor's office
(I later found more in the parking lot of my veterinarian's office).

Some may wonder why I didn't just turn around and go home, but here's how I saw it: I'm a busy gal. My weekdays are packed with working full time, skating practice, and still managing to socialize with friends. Saturday afternoon is always errand time for me, and with the sunny 70-degree weather, I was perfectly happy sitting in traffic with the windows down and enjoying some Alt Nation. It was a nice breather, and I found the extreme fandom fascinating. Thankfully I drive a red car, otherwise I would have been very out of place in my black Madonna T-shirt.

Just as I had planned, I made it to Trader Joe's and got my groceries. It just happened to be by way of a leisurely, interesting drive.

My friend Michal is a huge Bucky fan and she snapped a great shot from Camp Randall Stadium:

100 yards surrounded by red, red, red. 

Although I don't follow football, I try to stay in the know on whether Bucky won or lost. Living a block away from One Barrel Brewing Company helps, as the style of screaming from the bar clearly indicates glory or despair. This week? Glory screams in celebration of a UW triumph.

It's Bucky's territory (I just live in it).

Cheesin' it: vote for me!

Love Aviva in Dairyland? Vote for me in Madison Magazine's Best of Madison! Quick and easy to vote. Select "Arts & Entertainment," then "Local Blog (non-food)" and write in "Aviva In Dairyland."

Anyone can vote: you don't have to be a Wisconsin resident. Thanks, friends!

http://madisonmagazine.secondstreetapp.com/Best-of-Madison/Ballot/ArtsandEntertainment

Diary of a chicken farmer: part 2.

As stated previously, I spent 2 weeks as a backyard chicken farmer while Cory and Ryan were honeymooning. The major perk: eggs.

A sampling of eggs from the backyard chickens.

And since they enjoyed the cucumber so much (see my previous post), I figured I'd feed them some garden tomatoes:

Well, it was a fun gig, but now I'm off chicken duty. I'll be sure to visit them, though. Nugget and I bonded-- she likes a good neck scratching.

Diary of a chicken farmer: part 1.

First of all, big congrats to Cory and Ryan on their wedding!

Picture perfect, eh?

While my friends are honeymooning in Indonesia, I'm taking care of their animals and plants. I assured them that their cat and chickens would be in great hands, but I made no guarantees about the plants (I've been watering them every few days, but this isn't my area of expertise).

Caring for Cory and Ryan's pets goes as follows:

Step 1, check on Leisha.

A lovely Persian, indeed.

Step 2, gather the eggs.

Raki's present: a large brown egg.

Step 3, let the chickens out.

Raki and Nugget are best buds.

Step 4, tend to them. This means water, feed, and of course, treats:

Step 5, get the chickens back into the coop. This involves shooing them with a broom and a rake.

Doing my best farmer pose.

Overall, it's a pretty fun gig. The fresh eggs and garden veggies are a nice perk, too!


For my first post on Cory and Ryan's chickens, click here.